Obesity is a condition that has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Recent government studies have indicated that up to 40% of Americans are obese and that, among those, almost 20% are morbidly obese. Besides personal discomfort and loss of self-esteem, obesity has been associated with multiple pathological conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obstructive sleep apnea.
Many attempts have been disclosed in the prior art to treat obesity, all of which either have shown serious side effects or have proven substantially ineffective. For example, various diets, supplements and pharmaceuticals have been developed and marketed in an attempt to treat obesity, but none of these have provided any significant benefits to date with the exception of some pharmaceutical compositions that have also been associated with a number of serious, life-threatening conditions. To date, there are no commercially available supplements or drugs on the market that have been found to successfully achieve weight reduction.
Recognizing this situation, the medical industry has developed more extreme measures, the best example of which is the Roux-En-Y gastric bypass. More effective, but also potentially lethal, with a 1-2% mortality rate, six month recovery period and a price tag of tens of thousands of dollars, this major surgery is becoming increasingly popular due to the inefficacy of other treatments. Another example is gastric reduction, which basically consists in removing a large segment of the stomach, and which is similar to gastric bypass in its potentially lethal complications.
There is evidence that benefits can be derived from the reduction in gastro-duodenal flow. For instance, a presentation at the American Society for Bariatric Surgery conference in June 2003 indicated that a stimulation of the gastric vagus nerve with subsequent reduction in gastric motility resulted in loss of over 20% of excess weight over a nine month period. There is also data suggesting that a gastric vagotomy is effective in the treatment of obesity trough a similar mechanism. Unfortunately, these therapies require highly invasive surgical procedures that are sometimes irreversible.